The 2025 PIA Winners: Breakthrough Products Every Designer Should Know
What Designers Need to Know
- Sustainable products feature third-party certifications, recycled materials, and circular design principles, demonstrating industry commitment to environmental impact reduction.
- Performance-focused solutions address durability, acoustics, and hygiene, enhancing safety and well-being across multiple market sectors.
- Designs incorporate biophilic influences, modularity, and flexibility, supporting accessibility, reconfigurability, and aesthetic storytelling in commercial spaces.
Seeking out people, products, and projects that champion design with purpose remains core to the interiors+sources (i+s) mission. This year’s Product Innovation Awards (PIAs) reflect that commitment, showcasing commercial interiors products that push material, manufacturing, and sustainability standards forward. The 2025 submissions revealed some of the strongest innovation we’ve seen yet.
2025 PIA Judges
A special thank you to our panel of judges who reviewed all of the Product Innovation Awards entries this year and used their industry knowledge to select winners on behalf of interiors+sources.
- Katherine Berger, FCA
- Krystle Fader, DyeLot Interiors
- Stephanie Hopkins, B2 Design Co
- Andrew Kline, Workshop/APD
- Candon Murphy, HOK
- Andrea Polaski, Stantec
- Alexis Readinger, Preen, Inc.
- Yetta Starr, Yetta Starr Design Associates
- Stephen Wells, Hendrick
Breakthrough Manufacturing and Materials
Across categories, panelists noted major strides in next-generation manufacturing—from molecular recycling that transforms hard-to-reuse plastics, to advanced metalwork, cast glass, AI-assisted measurement systems, precision acoustics, and circadian-forward lighting. Integrated systems and engineered upgrades such as curve-ready natural fiber composites, 3D-formed resin textures, multifunctional HVAC-lighting solutions, and power-free pneumatic height adjustment demonstrate how technical innovation is reshaping interior environments.
Circularity and Verified Sustainability
Sustainability was a defining theme, supported by robust, verifiable documentation. Many entries feature high levels of recycled content, plant-based resins, carbon-neutral processes, and increasingly circular material streams. Several winners hold third-party certifications—including Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Health Product Declarations (HPDs), GREENGUARD, FloorScore, NSF/ANSI 140, GreenTag, Cradle to Cradle, Declare Label, and USDA Biobased—and offer take-back programs, reduced water and energy use, and long-term recyclability. Together, these moves signal meaningful progress toward material transparency and measurable environmental outcomes.
Performance, Safety, and User Well-being
Performance-driven design also rose to the top. Standout products address durability, acoustics, hygiene, moisture mitigation, and behavioral health needs—often within single systems. Panelists highlighted resilient biocomposites, hygienic flooring, high-NRC acoustic lighting, moisture-managing shower technologies, ligature-resistant luminaires, and surfaces built for high-traffic environments across healthcare, education, workplace, and hospitality.
Aesthetic Storytelling and Flexible Design
Visually, many winners embraced biophilic and organic influences—fractals, natural fibers, volumized knits, and laser-cut motifs inspired by microscopic forms. Product designers also leaned into modularity and flexibility through reconfigurable lighting, movable seating pods, adaptive furniture, and materials that support intuitive wayfinding and zoning.
i+s is proud to recognize this year’s 28 PIA winners—each embodying the inventive spirit and purpose-driven design that continue to move our industry forward. Explore the products below to see what’s shaping the future of commercial interiors.
2025 PIA Product Winners
About the Author
Lauren Brant
Editor, i+s and BUILDINGS
Lauren Brant is the editor at both i+s and Buildings. She is an award-winning editor and reporter whose work appeared in daily and weekly newspapers. In 2020, the weekly newspaper won the Rhoades Family Weekly Print Sweepstakes—the division winner across the state's weekly newspapers. Lauren was also awarded the top feature photo across Class A papers. She holds a B.A. in journalism and media communications from Colorado State University-Fort Collins and a M.S. in organizational management from Chadron State College.
Carrie Meadows
Editor-in-Chief
Carrie Meadows is Editor-in-Chief of interiors+sources (i+s), where she leads editorial strategy, content development, and brand storytelling focused on the people, projects, and innovations shaping the design industry. With more than two decades of experience in B2B media, she has built a career connecting technical expertise with creative insight—translating complex topics into meaningful stories for professional audiences. Before joining i+s in 2024, Carrie served as Editor-in-Chief of LEDs Magazine within Endeavor Business Media’s Digital Infrastructure & Lighting Group, guiding coverage of emerging lighting technologies, sustainability, and human-centric design. Her earlier editorial experience spans across Laser Focus World, Vision Systems Design, Lightwave, and CleanRooms, where she managed print and digital publications serving the optics, photonics, and semiconductor sectors.
An advocate for clear communication and thoughtful storytelling, Carrie combines her editorial management, SEO, and content strategy expertise to help brands and readers stay informed in a rapidly evolving media landscape. When she’s not crafting content, Carrie can be found volunteering at a local animal shelter, diving into a good crime novel, or spending time outdoors with family, friends, and her favorite four-legged friends.
Robert Nieminen
Chief Content Director
Chief Content Director, Architectural Products, BUILDINGS, and interiors+sources
Robert Nieminen is the Chief Content Director of three leading B2B publications serving the commercial architecture and design industries: Architectural Products, BUILDINGS, and interiors+sources. With a career rooted in editorial excellence and a passion for storytelling, Robert oversees a diverse content portfolio that spans award-winning feature articles, strategic podcast programming, and digital media initiatives aimed at empowering design professionals, facility managers, and commercial building stakeholders.
He is the host of the I Hear Design podcast and curates the Smart Buildings Technology Report, bringing thought leadership to the forefront of innovation in built environments. Robert leads editorial and creative direction for multiple industry award programs—including the Elev8 Design Awards and Product Innovation Awards—and is a recognized voice in sustainability, smart technology integration, and forward-thinking design.
Known for his sharp editorial vision and data-informed strategies, Robert focuses on audience growth, engagement, and content monetization, leveraging AI tools and SEO-driven insights to future-proof B2B publishing.